Messages - on the hop

Big problem with him been at 11 at present is that with the blanket defence nearly every team is employing is that he hasn't the pace to go at them. While he is hard to stop when he gets going he does suffer from getting stripped and bottled up at times. Paul Kingston has been a mixed bag in the position, at times his passing has been excellent and when he backs himself to go at the centre back he has got a few scores. He doesn't like tight marking and the last two games he had tended to stop and turn back to often. Probably has suffered from the lack of movement ahead of them at times to place a pass. We will need him and I hope the injury isn't to bad.

That was a nervy day. Won and didn't play well at all against a limited London team. Game was played at 100 miles an hour and it was a surprise to see so many players struggling to keep with it. Started like a train and had four bad wides in the first four minutes, we eventually had ten in the first half. They probably would have settled us and possibly made the game different. The finishing was very poor and we also missed at least four goals including two great saves. London played a blanket defense but positioned the two wing forwards wide on each touch line like all the teams we played so far. We played very narrow with both wing backs off their men and they exploited this by kicking diagonal balls in. They looked dangerous every time as we couldn't cope with this. We were out muscled on the first goal and horrible for the second. Six goals conceded now. We plugged away without ever getting away from them and fell over the line in the end. I said previously we don't have a defensive plan and left the two on the full back line isolated. I am amazed when both wing backs are constantly in the other half. The forwards didn't go well today. We replaced nearly all of them and would be better served with Gary at full forward, Donie is not fit or mobile enough at the moment.

Not to many good performances, attride and Begley near the end. Dillon is not a corner back and Crowley is too small for this level. Jol did huge work but he was on his own in midfield, Donie didn't last long and Danny o reilly while a willing runner is very poor in general play. Gary kicked his frees and a few from play but needs more space than the corner. Evan's best game in a while and he dragged us over the line. Can't understand the tactics with benny Carroll who spent most of the game marking space on the half back line. Paul Kingston looked to have pulled his hamstring at the end. We are going to find it tough in Carlow. Damien o Connor, Denis booth and David Conway were with the panel. Timmons was a sub and strong came on, so it's looking likely we will have much the same team as last year.

I thought it was our best performance so far, we made a lot of errors but none of them critical like in Leitrim. priority is to get out of this division, Wicklow were shocking, I never seen so many one footed players on a team, they were constantly turning back out the field. big games ahead and must wins because there is nothing to be gained staying here. first half with the wind we built up a good lead. Wicklow were very defensive but we kicked some good points, gary getting a goal to give us breathing space. we pressed up on their kickouts leaving only one or two in our half at times and it forced them to kick long. we dominated a lot of the ball as we had a lot of bodies in the area. we again defended very narrow at times, which appears to be a tactic.Second half a mess, 0-6 points all and the majority of them on both sides, frees. they hadn't the power to trouble us and we retreated back, playing keep ball at times. we ran the bench and gave a good few a run, taking off the regulars as they were starting to tackle a bit wild. for what its worth,

brody was rarely troubled and his kickouts very good. we played a two man full back line and they weren't troubled. nerney much better today. fennel was sticky and dogged but might overdue watching his man rather than the ball. Begley sat in front of them and handled a lot of ball, thought he was very good. Dillon was better today, its a pity he doesn't back himself going forward. Collins much quieter and replaced by strong. Crowley started instead of Holland and was on a lot of ball. mixed a bit of everything, got into great positions but tended to get stripped of the ball to often. I thought we dominated midfield. JOL was very good and Lillis kicked a great score and was much better and fitter looking today. we kicked 1-16 but you felt there was a bit more there, played with three and the full forward line in the first half and did well. completely withdrew in the second half and it was a bit of a slog. Farrell was injured and was replaced by Glynn. Paul Kingston handled a lot of ball, got it hard off his marker physically which he doesn't like but in fairness the ref was letting a bit go. donaher was ok. evan had a good game, kicked two good fress against the wind in the second half, ross kicked I think two or three from play. gary got the goal but it probably wasn't his best game and was replaced by donie. donie came on and was positioned around midfield/centre forward. he rarely left that position and I thought he should have been put in nearer the goals. a load of subs were given a run as well.

Went to the sigerson final today and I think Lowry will push very hard for a place. Very good worker and a good passer, I thought he kicked two points but the reports had him with one. In a game where there was never really a full forward line on either team he played much deeper and was very direct. Not evan's best day, started as the lone full forward but was well beaten by the galway full back. Switched with McCarthy out the field which was the winning of the game and scored a good point. One brilliant pass in the second half for a score was the highlight but missed three frees when it was very tight and then drifted become being taken off.

A lot of real quality players on show. Barry from Kerry, comer, Mc Carthy, Cooke from galway. Casey from tipp is a gem and a player I would Laois to have. Big man, kickout option and also knocked over three points when it mattered.

we conceded 9 goals last year and 11 the year before at a higher level. we have conceded 4 in the last two games against much inferior opposition I would have thought a defensive plan to improve this would be a priority.

It was mentioned earlier that a lot of the older team have drifted back and it's looking like we are going to need them. A lot of the new players have been poor in the last two games. We were very poor for long periods and got on top when they ran out of steam but at that stage, strong, Donie and Donagher we were on. We have conceded four goals in the last two games and you would have to question the defensive shape of the team. Time and again we were left two on two with a half field to themselves, that and the insistence on playing from the front especially nerney has caused us huge problems. He has been very poor. There two inside forwards scored 1-5 from play, more than our starting full forward line. Can't see the point of Holland rambling up the field when he has the pace to be a sweeper. We are also very narrow with Collins and Dillon pushing in towards the centre. This allowed all three teams that we have played to have an out ball on both side lines. Waterford had a man right on the line both sides and worked around the heavily congested middle. Management really need to work on this we are getting. Badly exposed again last night and especially in Leitrim.

A win is a win. Should have been far more as our forwards really had the run on their backs. The sloppiness in a 15 minute spell in the second half allowed them to be a lot closer than they should have been. You could blame it on the changes which resulted in the complete lack of shape but brody's run and loss of ball which resulted in Begley getting injured and them getting a goal gave them a kick start. This resulted them attacking in waves and a further two goals followed. Sugure in his interview didn't seem to worried about the turnover, blaming more on a mistake on the forwards but you would have to wonder why is your keeper near the opposition goals. There are problems to work on, the looseness of the defence and the kicking of wides before carlow and Antrim are encountered and it. Not a great day for the defence. Fennell was solid and Collins took his goal well. Begley saved our bacon a few times and wasn't bad at full back, his man did score a few. I have no idea what the plan with Holland was. He lined out at centre back and appeared to follow his man around the field. Dillon was ok but nerney had a tough day, played his man from the front and got caught several times. It's brace when it works out. The changes made the defence worse off. Jol was our only source of kickouts till Lillis came on. Reilly was cleaned by a much bigger man especially in the second half. He is athletic but is not a midfielder. Paul Kingston was good, not a good day for Glynn, while you could say Farrell tried hard. Again the changes here did not improve things. At different stages the full forward line did well. Realistically and mentioned in the interview they could and probably should have had a bigger score. Ross came on and bagged two points and will be putting Lowry under pressure who isn't sparkling at this level like he is doing at sigersion. We will need Timmons and attride back. No sign of Kingston yet but colm murphy did a heavy session before the game. Interesting to hear what others thought of sugure' s comments about Kingston